By AUDREY YOUNG
When the lightest moment in parliamentary question time is provided by a question on police brutality, you know it has been bad.
Yesterday was the most bruising day of this relatively well-behaved Parliament.
Labour's Trevor Mallard was thrown out soon after accusing Act's Richard Prebble of playing the race card; National's Bill English was thrown out for calling Mr Mallard Parliament's bully in charge of the country's children; and Mr Prebble showed what damage he can do when he gets a whiff of blood - yesterday going after Labour's unpredictable, feisty John Tamihere.
Even the Speaker, Jonathan Hunt, displayed uncharacteristic signs of flappability. He ordered other MPs to be quiet and invited the MP on his feet, Mr Tamihere, to "please continue in silence."
The grammatically correct Simon Upton provided light relief with a serious question to Finance Minister Michael Cullen about his having used the conditional tense in one of his answers on superannuation.
But a question on police tactics by Green MP Sue Bradford, who has been arrested more times than Mr Mallard has been thrown out, tickled the House's fancy.
"What is the Government's policy," she asked Police Minister George Hawkins in her dead-pan way, "in relation to nose-holds, choke-holds and similar tactics in dealing with people on demonstrations?"
Mr Hawkins: "The Government itself does not have a policy in relation to nose-holds, choke-holds and similar tactics used in dealing with people on demonstrations.
"However, I'm happy to take advice from the members on such matters."
It was an exceptional moment of levity.
The mood had soured earlier when Mr Prebble compared Mr Hunt's stewardship of the House to Nazi Germany.
Mr Hunt's crime against humanity had been to deny Mr Prebble the chance to ask a question.
Act MP Rodney Hide was to blame, having interjected moments after being warned it would result in questions being cut off.
Mr Prebble snapped.
"The notion that you can penalise another MP for the actions of a third one is not only unparliamentary, it's the sort of thing I make the analogy that Nazi Germany was known for."
That was Mr Prebble in a good mood compared with what he had in store for Mr Tamihere.
The last question was from Mr Prebble about Mr Tamihere's suitability as chairman of the Maori Affairs committee.
The apparent objective is to throw as much dirt as possible about Mr Tamihere, and the management of the Waipareira trust and official probes into it, in the 10 to 20 seconds it takes for an MP to object. If he makes Mr Tamihere angry, that might be a bonus.
Mr Prebble scored his bonus yesterday as the white-hot Hauraki MP yelled from the stalls: "I'm sick and tired of the malice and the premeditated racism practised by this member.
"The member misleads the House. He has made a number of allegations in the House.
"Repeat them outside it."
The response will only motivate Mr Prebble more to try to goad Mr Tamihere, the urban Maori hero, into doing something he might regret.
The police could learn a thing or two about brutality from Parliament.
MPs sin-binned for breaking House rules
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